Discover 5 sun-loving groundcover perennials
Low-maintenance plants for a vibrant garden
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The gardener is sometimes faced with bare soil or sunny spots that are difficult to cultivate. Ground-cover perennials offer numerous advantages for dressing the soil or greening it. They cover bare ground with a decorative carpet of foliage, often evergreen, or with their colourful flowering. They cover the soil and prevent weeds from growing. Easy to grow, they have a long lifespan, which makes the gardener’s task easier. Among sun-loving ground-cover perennials suitable for planting in sunny spots, you have a wide choice, from Phlox to Stachys, including Dianthus, Sedum and Delosperma. Discover our selection of sun-loving ground-cover perennials with care and companion-planting tips with other plants.
Cooper's Ice Plant - Delosperma cooperi
The Delosperma cooperi – Cooper’s Iceplant is a small creeping groundcover that thrives in hot, sunny climates. It grows to 10 cm high at maturity and spreads to 30 cm wide. Its small succulent leaves are light green with a silvery sheen. This semi-evergreen display features small mauve flowers with white centres, which bloom from June to September. It thrives in full sun and in dry, well-drained soil, making it a perfect groundcover to tuck into a low wall, a rockery or a hanging pot. It is vigorous, growing quickly with creeping and ramified stems that root deeply into the soil. Hardy to -8°C, it can be grown in pots in regions with cold winters.
In a rockery or in a container, pair this Delosperma with other groundcover plants that share the same growing preferences, such as sedums, dianthus, campanulas or stachys. If you live in a hot, dry and sunny climate, you can also create a large carpet of Delosperma with flowers in different colours: orange like Delosperma ‘Wheels of Wonder Fire’, yellow like Delosperma ‘Wheels of Wonder Golden’ or white like Delosperma ‘Wheels of Wonder White’.
Hardy geranium 'Rozanne'
Delicate, the Géranium vivace ‘Rozanne’ is a very floriferous plant producing bi-coloured blue-mauve flowers with white centres over several months, from June to October. It grows as small flowering mats reaching 25 cm tall at maturity for a width of 50 cm. Its large leaves are apple-green in colour and slightly maculated with darker tones at the centre. Easy to grow, this hardy geranium has been awarded “Plant of the Century” at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2013. Not very demanding, it grows in full sun, but can also be planted in partial shade, or even in shade. Hardy, it tolerates damp cold down to -16°C. It prefers to be planted in loose, cool and rich soil, but also tolerates heavy soil and excess moisture.
Plant this hardy geranium at the base of shrub roses to hide bare ground, or pair it with other spreading ground-covering plants such as Nepetas, Heucheras with highly decorative foliage or Phlox with small, brightly coloured flowers.
Pentecost carnation – Dianthus gratianopolitanus 'Kahori'
Dianthus gratianopolitanus‘Kahori’ — Pentecost Carnation is a small, delicate, easy-to-grow plant, perfect for a sunny position. It forms dense, compact cushions with semi-evergreen foliage, covered with flowers in a vivid carmine-pink. This miniature carnation offers a flowering period lasting several months, from June to October. Its mature height is 20 cm and its spread is 40 cm. The small 2 cm flowers are highly fragrant, and feature a cheerful colour and dentate petals. The foliage is fine, tough and blue-green. This carnation thrives in sun and well-drained soil, which can be poor or calcareous. This perennial is easy to grow, ideal for rockeries, walls, slopes, borders and pots in full sun. Hardy to -29°C.
This carnation can pair with other sun-loving plants that also form flowering cushions, such as Wall Campanula, Wall Campanula, the Arabis caucasica Variegata, the Phlox subulata ‘Emerald Cushion Blue’ — light-blue Moss Phlox, or Delosperma cooperi.
Blue fescue 'Elijah Blue' - Festuca glauca
Blue fescue ‘Elijah Blue’ – Festuca glauca is a small perennial plant of interest for its rare blue tones. This small grass forms a bristly tuft and is suited to poor soils and drought. Its very fine and evergreen foliage is stiff and highly decorative. The foliage is adorned with discreet bluish-silvery spikes of flowers with a light trailing habit, appearing from June to July. The inflorescences then turn golden. Reaching 30 cm high by 30 cm wide, it grows in full sun in dry, well-drained soil. It is hardy down to -18°C. Grown in poor, well-drained soil, it has a medium lifespan of 5 to 6 years.
This blue fescue can be used as a groundcover in a rock garden, a border, a planter or at the front of a border bed. With its very fine foliage and steel-blue colour, this plant is ideal for a graphic, contemporary garden. It can be planted at the base of a small palm or a cactus. It also pairs well with other carpet-forming groundcover plants such as Erigeron or Artemisia alba Canescens – Silver Sage.
Spanish lawn - Armeria maritima 'Düsseldorfer Stolz'
Another reliable option, easy to grow, the Spanish lawn – Armeria maritima ‘Düsseldorfer Stolz’ is a small evergreen perennial plant that thrives in the sun. It forms blue-green cushions that are covered with small flowers in a vivid pink-red colour which catch the eye. It grows to 15 cm tall by 20 cm wide. The flowers, pink pom-pom-shaped, appear from May to September at the ends of long, stiff stems. The foliage is fine and blue-green. Another advantage is that it remains evergreen in winter. This undemanding plant requires only full sun exposure and a well-drained soil to grow well. It is suited to sandy coastal soils and tolerates salt spray, winds, drought, and even cold, as it is hardy down to -18°C.
This Spanish lawn is a delicate groundcover that blankets rockeries and borders. It can be paired with other creeping perennials requiring the same growing conditions and sun-loving. Think par exemple of the silver basket – Arabis Caucasica ‘Bakkely’, the gypsophila rampants, the armerias woolly or the Helipterum everlasting ‘Pierrot’, which will dress your banks or bare, dry soils.
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